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Chart: SST and Cholera in Bangladesh
Caption: Cholera epidemics are seasonal. Using the remote sensing data, it was found that cholera outbreaks in Bangladesh occur shortly after sea surface temperature and sea surface height reach their zenith. This usually occurs twice a year, in spring and fall.
Patterns in ocean temperature and height are also linked to the pattern of cholera outbreaks in South America. Simply stated, we have found a positive correlation between increased sea surface temperature and sea surface height and subsequent outbreaks of cholera.
Heating of surface waters, especially off a tropical or subtropical coast, results in an increase in phytoplankton. Through remote sensing, we can now determine when that bloom is occurring. The phytoplankton, in turn, provide food for zooplankton, including the copepods. The zooplankton increase, followed by an abundance of vibrios in the water.
Further descriptions: The graph charts relative units of SST, SSH, and percent of cholera against months between October of 1992 to November of 1995 through the use of a line graphs.
Source: B. Lobitz et al. "Climate and infectious disease" PNAS (February 2000, vol. 97, no.4) National Academy of Sciences
Website: http://www.pnas.org/
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